Four observations from an article about Bodhi Global Services, an LPO

An article in Met. Corp. Counsel, Vol. 17, Dec. 2009 at 28, covers the usual points about an Indian-based legal process outsourcer. The particular company is Bodhi Global Services, yet even so the interview of its CEO, Arihant Patni,turns up a few points that stood out for me.

One point is that the firm is backed by AZB & Partners, one “of the largest law firms in India with almost 300 attorneys across three cities.” The other backer is the Patni Family, “a well established IT group in India” with revenue approaching $1 billion. “The idea behind Bodhi Global is to create an amalgamation of law and technology.”

A second point is that “Bodhi Global was one of the first LPOs in India to receive an ISO 27001 certificate, an international data security standard that helps us identify, control and minimize a vast array of threats to which digital information is regularly subject” (See my post of Nov. 25, 2009 #4: ISO 9001 certification of an LPO; and April 28, 2009: ISO and other certifications in the legal industry.).

Third, the lawyers hired by Bodhi Global “undergo almost a month-long training program, which includes training modules in U.S., UK and Indian law.” Specifically, a US law school professor has designed a litigation training module.

My final gleaning was about the advantages and disadvantages of the time differential between the US and India. This article of course touts the 24/7 cycle that allows work to go on all the time. Another article in the same issue, by a domestic provider of similar services, pooh-poohs that claim: better to be able to speak to your co-workers in real time, it says.